You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
16 reviews for:
Shakespeare Survey 45 - Hamlet and its Afterlife
Stanley Wells, Michael Dobson, Jonathan Bate
4.4 AVERAGE
16 reviews for:
Shakespeare Survey 45 - Hamlet and its Afterlife
Stanley Wells, Michael Dobson, Jonathan Bate
4.4 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
dark
tense
fast-paced
Shakespeare's Hamlet is a brilliant reworking of ancient greek myths. He uses personal tragedy to build upon the collapse of the kingdom. Much like Sophocles's Oedipus, obsessed with the notion of justice, Hamlet is largely ignorant of his actions. The Prince of Denmark is stuck in loops of thought, facing Purgatory similar to that of his father.
Hamlet is a play about fathers. Whether it is Fortinbras Sr. or the vengeance-seeking ghost of Hamlet's father or Polonius or usurping uncle-father Claudius and Yorick, the jester. Stacked like Matryoshka dolls, Shakespeare layers the play with various revenge subplots with Yorick sitting right in the middle. He reflects on what it means to be a father. Do you persuade your child to descent down the path of violence to seek justice or appreciate life as it is and move on?
Shakespeare fills the play with maddening confrontations to brooding soliloquies. About 70% of the lines belong to Hamlet. In contrast, very little lines are given to Ophelia or Gertrude, their characters are left open for interpretation.
The juxtaposition of Ophelia's insanity to that of Hamlet's pretense proves to be poignant & tragic. His blind rage causes harm that could have been avoided.
When Hamlet encounters the acting troupe, he asks them to recite a speech from the fall of Troy. Here Shakespeare ingenuity shines, not only does Hamlet ponder on the pain of Hecuba, but he also forces us to empathize with Gertrude. And the idea of a play within a play also helps us question what we're seeing.
I've seen two movie adaptations of this play: one by Lawrence Olivier and the other by Kenneth Branagh. They explore different aspects, the former focuses more on psychology whereas the latter takes on the scope. Viewing the performance before reading the play adds context to the motivations.
In Our Time's Hamlet podcast is an excellent supplement to the play.
Hamlet is a play about fathers. Whether it is Fortinbras Sr. or the vengeance-seeking ghost of Hamlet's father or Polonius or usurping uncle-father Claudius and Yorick, the jester. Stacked like Matryoshka dolls, Shakespeare layers the play with various revenge subplots with Yorick sitting right in the middle. He reflects on what it means to be a father. Do you persuade your child to descent down the path of violence to seek justice or appreciate life as it is and move on?
Shakespeare fills the play with maddening confrontations to brooding soliloquies. About 70% of the lines belong to Hamlet. In contrast, very little lines are given to Ophelia or Gertrude, their characters are left open for interpretation.
The juxtaposition of Ophelia's insanity to that of Hamlet's pretense proves to be poignant & tragic. His blind rage causes harm that could have been avoided.
When Hamlet encounters the acting troupe, he asks them to recite a speech from the fall of Troy. Here Shakespeare ingenuity shines, not only does Hamlet ponder on the pain of Hecuba, but he also forces us to empathize with Gertrude. And the idea of a play within a play also helps us question what we're seeing.
I've seen two movie adaptations of this play: one by Lawrence Olivier and the other by Kenneth Branagh. They explore different aspects, the former focuses more on psychology whereas the latter takes on the scope. Viewing the performance before reading the play adds context to the motivations.
In Our Time's Hamlet podcast is an excellent supplement to the play.
Read this for university, have seen the play several times, felt it was time I read the original text
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes